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Organisers of this year's Liverpool Biennial have confirmed they've made the "incredibly difficult" decision to postpone this year's festival.

It was due to take place from July 11 to October 25, but with the ongoing situation around Covid-19 it will no longer be going ahead.

The news was confirmed this afternoon in a statement sent out by organisers in which they said although the decision was hard to make, postponing the event will enable Liverpool Biennial to "deliver its programme as intended".

Fatos Ustek, Liverpool Biennial director, said: “Together, we are facing a crisis: a slowly evolving tragedy that will require strength, adaptation and endurance to overcome.

"In these unprecedented times, our connections are amplified. The Biennial edition we have been working to deliver concentrates on the interconnected nature of all things – there is no divide between nature and man, but rather an ecosystem where we host and are hosted by other species.

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"After attending to this situation on a local and global scale, listening to our artists, partners, supporters and our community, we have decided to postpone the 11th edition of the Liverpool Biennial to 2021.

"We believe that it is time for heightened care, reflection and solidarity. Culture and creativity are integral parts of our lives – that will not wither away.

"During these uncertain days, while we continue to develop this edition, we will be honouring our commitment to all those we work with and for in Liverpool and beyond.”

Liverpool Biennial is the UK's largest festival of contemporary art and this year's theme was set to be based on the theme of 'The Stomach and the Port', exploring notions of the body.

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Manuela Moscoso, curator of The Stomach and the Port said: “It is through our body that we experience and connect with the world around us, and our understanding of these relationships is heightened in the face of a global pandemic.

"Now more than ever we see that our lives are interdependent.

"We are infinitely entangled with the world, and our relations are not only within human society, but also with the environment and the life-giving systems which sustain our existence.

"Our understanding of how we live in many overlapping worlds and experience the multifaceted effects of globalisation is intensified and is manifested in how we navigate our daily lives.

"At a time when to protect our loved ones, we must do what feels counterintuitive and maintain physical distance, I want to send a message of solidarity and care for all those who are living and working through these difficulties.

"The Biennial team and I are working hard to deliver a festival which will be realised in 2021 and which will celebrate the body in all its manifestations, as a force of resilience, strength and a beacon of hope in uncertain tides.”